The Christian festival known in English speaking countries as Easter is known in many parts of the world through a local form of Passover: Pesach (Hebrew), Paskha (Aramaic), Påske (Danish and Norwegian), Pasen (Dutch), Pâques (French), Πάσχα (Greek), Cásca (Irish), Pasqua (Italian), Pasche (Latin), Páscoa (Portuguese), Pascua (Spanish), Påsk (Swedish) and Pasg (Welsh). In English and German speaking countries it appears as though the names Easter and Ostern come from the proto-Germanic Austron (Ēostre or Ostara).

Bede, an 8th-century British church historian, in his work “De temporum ratione”, states that during Ēosturmōnaþ (the equivalent to the month of April) feasts were held in Eostre’s honor among the pagan Anglo-Saxons. Bede believed that Eostre had been a Germanic goddess in times gone past. These feasts had died out by the time of his writing, replaced by the Christian “Paschal month” but retaining the pagan name. The feasts would have been held around the time of the spring equinox, the point in the year in which the sun starts coming up earlier and setting later. The goddess was gone, but the symbols of new life, fertility and spring remained in what we now know as Easter eggs and Easter bunnies (the hare in Germanic culture).

The Christian Easter tradition is connected with the Passover festival, which is roughly connected with the Spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. Emperor Constantine ruled that the paschal celebration would be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal (spring) equinox.

Down under, however, we miss the spring connections. It’s actually the autumn equinox here in late March/early April. This is a time when it’s starting to get darker, colder and more difficult to nurture life in the garden. It’s a time of harvest, not new shoots.

So how do Christians connect today to the ancient customs associated with the spring equinox tradition? Do we just ignore them? Or do we find a way to connect with the commercial promotion of eggs and rabbits? Some churches use hollow chocolate Easter eggs to reflect on the significance of the resurrection. The egg is hollow in the same way the tomb of Jesus is empty because of the resurrection. We talk about the hatching of the egg as a sign of new life, connecting with the resurrection of Jesus. I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone tie the Easter rabbit in with the Jesus events.

Could we run a second Easter in September/October, when the spring tradition makes more sense? It could be an opportunity to celebrate God-given creativity, fertility, new beginnings, and maybe fresh expressions of mission. And another chance to explore the Jesus story with fresh eyes.

Reflections and prayers will be led by Susanna Pain, Sue Dunbar, Liz Anne Smith, Nikolai Blaskow, Mandy Cox, Mark Beresford, Helen Middelmann, Hannah Dungan and myself.

My two stations, shared with Hannah Dungan, are the Portrait Gallery and Old Parliament House. At the Portrait Gallery we hear the story of Peter warming himself by a campfire, and being confronted by a woman who recognises him as a follower of Jesus. I’ll be providing paper, pens and a camera to allow people to be part of a portrait photography session in which identity is made public. At Old Parliament House we’ll hear the story of Jesus agonizing over life and death decisions in the Garden of Gethsemane. We’ll reflect on national life and death decisions made in Canberra since the provisional Parliament building was opened in 1927 (and perhaps during the years before in Melbourne).

Wednesday night was a chance to get our heads around the complexities of a collection of writings from different sources. The first creation story, and parts of the Flood story, appears to have been written by someone or a group of someones during the Exilic period in Babylon. The stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, parts of the Noah flood story, and the Tower of Babel, reflect the language and style of the period of David and Solomon in Jerusalem. Which leads to the question, “So did Moses not write the Law of Moses”? We had a healthy and respectful conversation on the origins of these writings and their significance for readers through the centuries.

We spent the second half of the evening reflecting on the concepts of mythology and legend. Mythology is a term used to describe stories that have symbolic significance, helping us reflect on our origins, our shared humanity and in some cases the reasons things are as they are now. Legends are stories that have become larger than life, often for a reason. For example, the stories of people like Methuselah living for 969 years, could be seen as ways to remind readers/listeners that these events were a long, long, long time ago, and yet are connected with us through real people. Poetic or epic language, such as the creation of everything in six days or phases, points us to the deeper significance of a benign creator creating a universe that is inherently of value.

I remember the first time I grappled with the Documentary Hypothesis for the Old Testament, posed by Julius Wellhausen, which proposes a four-stage development of the Torah through the J (Yahwist), E (Elohist), D (Deuteronomist) and P (Priestly) streams. Years later I’m still committed to caution about buying into any such theory with absolute certainty. However I’m sure that Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy in their current form were not written by Moses.

I’m encouraged by Walter Brueggemann, who in his commentary on Genesis reminds us that we need to get past speculation on the origins and accuracy of these texts, and discover again the powerful, subversive and empowering messages found within. Sure, there are elements that reinforce patriarchal and religious prejudices. However we find here counters to the arrogance of expanding empires, and a reminder that life is worth nurturing. We discover that even when we stuff things up, there are opportunities for ongoing relationship with God.

We’re using “Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction, written by Lawrence Boadt in 1984, revised and updated by Richard Clifford and Daniel Harrington in 2012. It came out a couple of weeks ago on Kindle.

Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction; Second Edition

Vulnerable With Us

I know that only two of the gospels begin with the “Christmas story”, focusing on the birth and infancy narratives of Jesus before heading into the actions and teachings of Jesus. These narratives could be interpreted as making Jesus’ birth auspicious, more significant than those of others. I choose to focus on the earthiness of the stories. Here we have someone living out the vision of God in a fragile, mortal body with a beginning and a certain end, like the rest of us. This is no omnipresent (all powerful) omniscient (all perceiving) and omnipotent (all powerful) deity here for a brief visit. This is the story of a person who must focus on a small geographic circle, with a limited perspective on the past, present and future, and with inspiration and character as the basis for influencing his world, like most of the rest of us.

When facing the fragility of life I am comforted to know that somehow God is in this world with me and my fellow citizens of Earth. I’m not expecting or looking for a “fix all the evil in the world” framework, that depends on people towing the line and living right. What I’m more interested is the “with you in this” commitment shown by people like the Anarchist Soccer Mom who blogged today on “Thinking the Unthinkable”, writing about her experience of being the parent of a child with dangerous mental illness.

Eating With Us

Each of the four Christian gospel narratives shows Jesus embracing scandal by associating himself with people on the margins of society. The culture in which Jesus lived was dominated by voices focused on purity through exclusion, staying separate from those believed to have compromised standards of behaviour, belief or cultural practice. Jesus made it a practice to eat with social outcasts, touch the untouchables, and look for the people who had become out of sight, out of mind. The Christian community has a call to follow suit. It’s tempting to focus on setting up a place where others might dare to enter. However the lifestyle of Jesus was more about hanging out in spaces created and frequented by others. I’ll be keeping that in mind next time I’m at the shopping mall food court…

Time With Us

Christian congregations and agencies are known here for making an effort to provide for the needy, whether that be through providing accommodation for the elderly, supporting young families with counselling and emergency relief, or providing support to the homeless. To sustain this work we need to keep an eye on fund raising, project management, business plans, service delivery, compliance and standards of quality. But what counts for more is the human interaction that reminds all involved that we are connected, linked together, learning together what it means to be fully human.

Praying With Us

Many Christian services of worship have a section at the beginning focused on “confession”. We concur with God’s perspective on the human condition, and humbly look for the capacity to begin again. We’re assured that we are indeed forgiven. I think our acknowledgement of the human condition needs to also pay attention to the disconnectedness experienced by us all. We need prayers that acknowledge the isolation we feel as face uncertainty about the future. We need prayers that lament the sense of abandonment experienced by those affected by gun violence or marginalization of refugees. We need prayers that acknowledge how hard it is to be aware of others when we’re dealing with the pain associated with disease, disability or dysfunction. In all this we need more than just a new start. We need to hear the message, “You are not alone”.

More to come as I work on this theme, during a Christmas Day service I’m leading at O’Connor Uniting, and in the book I’m crafting over the summer.

Click on the image below to play the One of Us music video in YouTube (HD)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4CRkpBGQzU

The One of Us music video, by the way, was directed by Mark Seliger (Black Dog Films) and Fred Woodward.

Somehow “Christian gospel” has been equated with a narrowly defined set of beliefs associated with personal evangelism focused on sorting out guilt (forgiveness), getting connected with God (reconciliation) and planning a long term destination in heaven rather than hell (salvation?). The call to live with compassion, generosity and integrity has been treated as a desirable after effect (gospel imperative), rather than having anything to do with the gospel itself. And so, for some, community service is seen as distraction from getting people saved and brought into a daily routine of Bible reading and prayer and a weekly routine of worship with other Christians.

Recent debate over ways of understanding the doctrine of atonement has brought this all into the open in Evangelical circles. By Evangelical I mean the Christian movement in which people are considered to be authentic in their Christian belief if they adhere to correct doctrine, profess personal trust in Jesus as their Saviour, treat the Bible as authoritative and seek to share Christian faith in a way that will invite people to become Christians. I’ve written a paper exploring a range of New Testament metaphors available to us, which when conflated together become a distorted, unhelpful, irrelevant or even dangerous framework for understanding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

I’m aware of a much older debate from the early twentieth century, in which a line was drawn between those following a “social gospel” and those holding to what they perceived to be a personal and orthodox gospel associated with traditional understandings of the cross and the push for personal conversion. SCM, the Student Christian Movement, was split in half, with the formation of Inter Varsity Fellowship. That polarisation in the 1920s has led to a century-long crisis of faith formation.

Moving into the 21st century I think we need models of faith formation that include an awareness of the grace and action of God, the deep significance of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, an understanding of images, stories and beliefs carrying significance for the early church, through history and today, along with “gospel practices” for individuals and communities ranging from prayer, capacity for personal reconciliation, through to community development and advocacy for societal change.

Questions to address:

Where do we draw the line between gospel and good idea?
How do we deal with the legacy of “colonising” approaches to conversion?
It’s been said that the Christian gospel is God’s good news for our bad situations. Is that always the case?
Why do we use “atonement” as a metaphor to summarise the gospel when Jesus talked about the good news of the kingdom of God?

Proverbs 1:22-30 reads as a rant against a society that isn’t interested in discovering wisdom. It’s tempting for communities of faith to present that message to the world around them, writing people off with messages of smugness and condemnation. I think of a congregation I worked with who had successfully hosted a community meal with many of their neighbours. However no-one seemed interested in turning up for worship. Who could blame them when they had a sign on the street with the humorous but offensive billboard reading, “Where will you be sitting in eternity. Smoking or non smoking?” That’s a conversation stopper, not a conversation starter.

A group of Christian communicators in the United States felt that messages of grace and insight needed to be placed in the public domain, rather than only on the front lawns of churches. They formed “God Speaks”, online at godspeaks.com, sponsoring billboards around the country with messages signed by God, such as “That love thy neighbour thing… I meant it, God”.

In New Zealand a couple in Auckland were inspired to start “Godmarks”, a similar movement in which messages from God appeared on high profile billboards. Messages like “Every day I get more prayer requests for car parks than for anything else. You people need to start thinking bigger, God”, and “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t hate gays, Jesus”. These are conversation starters designed to stimulate intrigue among people who don’t usually even think about God. See more on The Inspiration Room.

But it’s not only explicitly Christian content that connects us to the wisdom of God. I was driving down a motorway in Wellington pondering about how I was going to motivate a group of leaders to look at safety of children in their local church. They perceived the requirement for training as a top down imposition that had nothing to do with why they were there. A Grace removals truck drove past at that moment. “That’s it”, I realised. “Begin with the gift. Ministry with children is a privilege that is given, a responsibility and opportunity that we celebrate.” And at that moment another truck pulled into the lane beside me, with a local government ad for pool safety on the back featuring a child waving her finger. “Look out for us kids!”. I gave thanks for God’s wisdom on the motorway.

Canberra Airport has a series of three billboards set sequentially on shipping containers by the road into the terminal. “What you see isn’t all you get. Canberra’s new terminal. There’s more to come”. The sequence reminds me each time I drive by to keep looking for new developments, both in terms of facilities, but also in what I experience in the world of advertising, film and design. See more on Screenmakers site.

Television commercials are generally designed to get us to consider buying products or giving allegiance to brands. But more and more we’re seeing commercials that can be described as parables: stories with significance that can be interpreted in many ways. We see 30 to 60 short films that help us reflect on who we are and where we’re going.

Jeep’s “Life Search Engine” commercial, launched in Australia, starts off with a dreamy reflection on our search for meaning in life, before dropping into a cheerful suggestion that we buy a Jeep. See more at The Inspiration Room.

Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlqRzVInrnw

The Singapore Government, noticing the drop in committed relationships that lead to marriage and stable families, formed “Think Family”, a campaign with deep significance. My favourite commercial from over the years is “Funeral”, featuring God’s wisdom, sponsored by Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). Mrs Lee (played by playwright, director and actress Jo Kukathas) speaks at the funeral of her husband. Snoring and farting become the talking points for living with one another’s imperfections. The commercial provides subtle support for multiracial relationships and family bonding, thanks to the craft of Malaysian film director Yasmin Ahmad, who died not long after making this film. See more at The Inspiration Room.

Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0s4C0g5SM

I finished my talk on Sunday with a clip sponsored by Old Mutual Assurance Company, a finance company in South Africa. The two minute television commercial shows people discovering wisdom from others, alone, through difficult experiences, through quiet reflection. At the end comes the challenge. “What counts is what we do with wisdom”. See more on The Inspiration Room.

Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E-6O3vZO5M

The Message paraphrase of Proverbs 1:20-21 has it: “Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts. At the town center she makes her speech. On the middle of the traffic she takes her stand. At the busiest corner she calls out”.

Are we listening?

Each vineyard and winery has the opportunity to respond to a unique local environment, with local climates and soil types changing the performance of each grape variety. A shiraz from the Barossa is quite different to one from the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Hunter Valley and the Margaret River. In the same way local conditions shape the way faith formation happens around the country. Urban and rural settings are obvious factors. However I’ve also noticed that climate really does affect the values of a community and its approach to learning. People in colder climates, I’ve observed, are more likely to spend time reading than those in warm climates.

The art of making wine involves wisdom and creativity. Winemakers draw on inherited wisdom, picked up from family and colleagues, but also passed down over centuries from people in the industry. That wisdom is grown as people take risks and try out new varieties and techniques. Courage is required when facing what appear to be disastrous years. There is always something to learn. In the same way we see people around the country drawing on a tradition of faith formation that has centuries of theological exploration at its base, along with more recent learning about how learn.

Winemakers thrive when they share their insights and collaborate with others. Hahndorf Hill Winery in the Adelaide Hills, for example, recently imported three clones of the Gruner Veltliner grape variety from Austria. Their wines sell out in days. They now are working with neighbouring vineyards to develop a regional specialty that will attract visitors in the future. People involved in local faith formation know that they will be more effective when they learn from others, and share their insights with others. Resources released to others are able to grow in their effectiveness. People working in local situations need be aware of and connect with people working in similar contexts.

Winemakers aspire to excellence, spurred on by the evaluation and affirmation of others in their industry. The Uniting Church has shied away from competitiveness, for good reasons. We’re suspicious of “empire building” and ego driven approaches to anything. However we still need to have the capacity to recognise the helpful work done by others.

Finally, we need to learn about long term planning and strategic choices. Wise winemakers know that choices around the planting of grapevines have long term implications. Do they go for volume or quality? Do they work with an organic approach or use pesticides and insecticides? In the same way, people involved in faith formation know they have to plan for long term capacity building of people who are able to invest in others.

What do you think? What parallels would you draw?

Flickr can handle photos from iPhones and Android phones, as well as the more upmarket digital cameras, or scanned images. A free account gives you the capacity to upload 300 MB of images and two videos per month. A Pro account, for $24.95 a year, gives you the capacity to upload an unlimited number of images and videos every month and receive unlimited bandwidth and storage. Photos in a Pro account may be placed in up to 60 group pools, and galleries. The other benefit of having a Pro account is avoiding having your site put into suspension mode if it’s inactive for 90 days.

Licensing for each image can be set for anything from all rights reserved through to a variety of Creative Commons approaches. I’ve had one photograph, Shrine of Remembrance in Brisbane, used on the Schmap Brisbane page. And a photograph of a monument to James Mackenzie, written in Gaelic, included in the Gàidhlig Flickr group.

Social connections can be added in to each photo by adding geolocation, tags, people, and adding to groups. And of course an organisation can have a Flickr account, like The Inspiration Room.

One more thing to think about. I dropped a portable hard drive back in 2009, losing hundreds of digital photographs I’d been storing on it, forever. However I’d saved a few on my Flickr account. Phew!